Terence Fisher

Birthday: 1904-02-23
Deathday: 1980-06-18
Birthplace: Maida Vale, London, England
Gender: Male

Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. He was born in Maida Vale, a district of London, England.

Fisher was one of the most prominent horror directors of the second half of the 20th century. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, while mild by modern standards, were unprecedented in his day. His first major gothic horror film was "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), which launched Hammer's long association with the genre and made British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee leading horror stars of the era. He went on to film a number of adaptations of classic horror subjects, including "Dracula" (1958), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1959) and "The Mummy" (1959).

Given their subject matter and lurid approach, Fisher's films, though commercially successful, were largely dismissed by critics during his career. It is only in recent years that Fisher has become recognised as an auteur in his own right. His films are characterised by a blend of fairy-tale, myth and sexuality. They draw heavily on Christian themes, and there is usually a hero who defeats the powers of darkness by a combination of faith in God and reason, in contrast to other characters, who are either blindly superstitious or bound by a cold, godless rationalism.

Description above adapted from the Wikipedia article Terence Fisher, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Credits

Year Title
1974-05-02 Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
1969-05-22 Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
1968-07-20 The Devil Rides Out
1967-05-01 Night of the Big Heat
1967-03-15 Frankenstein Created Woman
1966-06-20 Island of Terror
1966-01-09 Dracula: Prince of Darkness
1964-10-18 The Gorgon
1964-10-14 The Earth Dies Screaming
1964-08-19 The Horror of It All
1962-11-30 Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
1962-06-25 The Phantom of the Opera
1961-05-01 The Curse of the Werewolf
1960-12-26 Sword of Sherwood Forest
1960-10-24 The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
1960-05-01 The Brides of Dracula
1959-12-04 The Stranglers of Bombay
1959-08-01 The Mummy
1959-06-15 The Man Who Could Cheat Death
1959-05-04 The Hound of the Baskervilles
1958-06-13 The Revenge of Frankenstein
1958-04-21 Dracula
1957-05-20 The Curse of Frankenstein
1957-05-01 Kill Me Tomorrow
1956-08-01 The Last Man to Hang
1956-06-20 The Gelignite Gang
1955-11-21 Robin Hood: The Movie
1955-09-30 The Flaw
1955-08-01 Stolen Assignment
1955-02-01 Children Galore
1954-12-10 Mask of Dust
1954-10-01 Final Appointment
1954-09-24 The Stranger Came Home
1954-03-19 Blackout
1954-01-29 Face the Music
1953-10-26 Three's Company
1953-10-10 Blood Orange
1953-07-01 Spaceways
1953-05-25 Four Sided Triangle
1953-03-10 Mantrap
1952-07-31 Distant Trumpet
1952-05-01 Stolen Face
1952-04-01 Wings of Danger
1952-01-25 The Last Page
1951-08-01 Home to Danger
1950-05-31 So Long at the Fair
1950-03-17 The Astonished Heart
1949-06-07 Marry Me
1948-12-01 Portrait from Life
1948-09-01 To the Public Danger
1948-06-08 A Song for Tomorrow